Buying Votes From Dominica

ROBERT PIGOTT:
Dominicans call it the "nature island", a mini paradise of rainforested slopes and mountain streams running down to an unpolluted sea. This country of banana plantations and artisan fishing celebrated twenty one years of independence from Britain last year, but even as it comes of age Dominica faces accusations that it is sacrificing it's reputation as a guardian of wildlife in return for cash.

UNNAMED MAN:
Whales ahead, 400 yards! Over there.

PIGOTT:
Barely a mile offshore one of Dominica's finest assets is on display. The island is one of the best places in the world to see sperm whales. 20,000 people go whale watching here each year. Whales have become one of the chief attractions bringing tourists and their money to Dominica.

ANDREW ARMOUR:
Anchorage Whale Watching
I think the whales are special, I mean the way that they live, the similarity to us humans, the size of the brains, the complexity of the social organisations, I think it is important to have some respect for these animals.

TOURIST:
It means a lot to come here and see them for real. To see a baby whale as well is really nice.

PIGOTT:
Dominica lacks the golden sands of other Caribbean countries, instead it's selling itself as the nature island. The visitors whose cruise ships dock at the capital have come for the wildlife and Dominica's tropical forests and for an environment as yet unspoilt by development. And they come for the clear warm sea, its corals and its whales. But, amazingly, Dominica uses its national vote to support Japan in the killing of whales elsewhere in the world. Dominica is the smallest of nations, barely 70,000 people live here. But on the International Whaling Commission, Dominica has the same vote as the US or Britain. It's not hard to see why Japan might want to court this country. Of the nations that supported Japan at the last meeting of the IWC, over half were Caribbean islands. The International Whaling Commission, which rules on how many whales may be hunted, is made up of 40 countries. Most want to reduce hunting by creating whale sanctuaries. That would need at least 30 votes. But at the last important meeting a group of five nations, led by Japan, opposed the move. Japan needed the votes of just six small Caribbean countries to block the plan. A leading politician claims Japan has explicitly used aid to induce Dominica to support whaling. Atherton Martin says he resigned as Environment Minister because his country gave in, albeit to pressure. In his first interview since he left office, he claimed Japan threatened to withdraw future aid unless it got Dominica's vote.

ATHERTON MARTIN:
Former Environment Minister
They announced that if they couldn't get Dominica to come along with them, they would have to place Dominican projects under review. If that is not an extortion by the Japanese Government, I don't know what is. They are saying, "You either go with us or we pull the aid."

PIGOTT:
What aid might Dominica have forfeited for turning Japan down? The answer lies in this fisheries complex built by Japan in Roseau. It's a conspicuous symbol of the two countries' close relationship.

ATHERTON MARTIN:
One can look at the years in which the Japanese aid began to flow. In our case, the fisheries complex goes back six or seven years. It was at that time the pattern of voting of Dominica began to be almost 100% in sync with the wishes of the Japanese.

PIGOTT:
At the government headquarters, I met the man who represented Dominica at the International Whaling Commission. He denies selling out to Japan.

LLOYD PASCAL:
Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries
We don't believe we should stand in the way of anybody that wants to do whaling. The scientific information shows the species that they are asking for is in abundance.

PIGOTT:
To many of Dominica's fishermen the aid from Japan has been more symbolic than useful. In the south of the island, Japanese help in developing fishing has had little impact. Close to the shore, part-time fishermen dive to look for fish. Nets are laid at sea but pulled in from the beach. Most of the catch is sold on the shore or direct to fishmongers. Rarely does it end up here in Roseau's fish factory.

LIPSON TAVERNIER:
Fisherman
The Japanese doesn't benefit nothing. To me, I never see anything Japanese before. We need a place where we can get our things, we need ropes and things like that we can buy. We are looking for something that we can go on and develop ourselves.

PIGOTT:
But big fish factories have appeared in several Caribbean countries that support Japan. On the island of St Vincent, the Japanese-built fish complex has been empty for more than four years. Local fishermen use it to store model yachts. Dominica's gift from Japan is also under-used. A hurricane destroyed most of the equipment last November. The government has so far been unable to repair it. The mystery is why, if the largesse from Japan is of such dubious value, Dominica continues to ignore its own national interests and support the hunting of whales.

ATHERTON MARTIN:
We are aware that there are several senior members of the fisheries divisions throughout the Caribbean who have developed a "special relationship" with Japan. They travel to Japan. They are on the receiving end of enormous amounts of information. They participate with the Japanese technical persons in what is described as "fisheries research" in the Caribbean, which is teaching people how to kill whales in the name of research.

PIGOTT:
There aren't many places where a few million dollars of aid are likely to have as much impact as in Dominica. Japan has been accused of targeting poor nations in need of money. The collapse in the banana industry has added to Dominica's hardship. The fruit on this tiny family farm is being picked for the UK. But Caribbean countries are fighting a losing battle for markets. Dominica's income from bananas has halved in the last ten years alone, but the country is exploiting a potentially richer source of foreign exchange - earnings from tourism are now worth four times those from bananas. It seems that only tourism can rescue Dominica from economic ruin. But Dominica relies on eco-tourism, visitors with an interest in protecting wildlife, above all the whale.

TOURIST:
In England, people are animal lovers. If they see this happening, they won't go there.

PIGOTT:
The government says it won't change its friendship with Japan on the instructions of tourists.

LLOYD PASCAL:
We welcome everybody to come and share it with us, but we do not take dictates from anybody. We do not want anybody to tell us what we should do, even under threats and blackmail, that they will come or they will not come if we do not do this or that. We will tell them, "Don't come here. Go to hell!"

PIGOTT:
Bodies like the IWC may set standards for protecting wildlife, but they can't enforce them. Their authority rests almost entirely on the fact that they are democratic. The question is whether Japan is trying to hijack that democratic process, stripping some of the worlds most precious wildlife of its protection.